Our Campaign

2018 Vote Yes For Bonds Committee

Co-Chairs:

Jesse Cureton, Novant Health

Jesse Cureton is chief consumer officer and executive vice president for Novant Health. In this executive role, he is the visionary who directs strategic planning, marketing, public relations, community relations, the foundations/outreach, corporate health and other business functions. He is credited with unifying the system through a rebranding initiative that showcases Novant Health’s commitment to building a culture of wellness and consumer engagement. The brand, which was launched four months after Cureton’s start with Novant Health, elevates corporate presence and exemplifies remarkable patient experience. Mr. Cureton is a former Presbyterian Healthcare and Novant Health board trustee.

Cureton joined Novant Health after retiring from a laudable tenure with Bank of America. Recognizing banking as a comprehensive and multidimensional industry, Cureton explored and became a specialist in various disciplines. During his twenty-five year financial industry career, he successfully lead the local merger efforts in North Carolina for US Trust and Bank of America, developed training for 2000+ wealth management advisors in Premier Banking and Investments, and implemented tactics that greatly improved staff satisfaction, retention and productivity.

He currently serves as a board member with Queens University of Charlotte, the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, Foundation for the Carolinas, Charlotte Center City Partners, and the UNC Board of Visitors.

Cureton holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and a Master in Business Administration, and Financial Planning Certificate from Queens University of Charlotte. He is also an executive program graduate from Harvard Business School and The Wharton School (of Business).

Carol Hardison, Crisis Assistance Ministry

Carol Hardison has served as the chief executive of Crisis Assistance Ministry since 2000. A child of passionate social justice advocates, Carol came to Charlotte in 1982 after graduating cum laude from Furman University with a BS in Mathematics and Computer Science. She worked in information technology at Duke Energy before leaving the corporate world 18 years later to follow her passion for serving people in poverty. She became the second CEO of Mecklenburg County’s Lead Agency for emergency financial assistance to prevent evictions and utility disconnection. The ministry is also home to the community’s hub for clothes, furniture, appliances and household goods provided at no cost to low income families. Skyrocketing rent and housing affordability challenges bring nearly 200 families a day to the agency seeking first a safety net and then an individualized ladder of opportunity.

Carol has served in a variety of community leadership roles and has been recognized with multiple awards including Charlotte Woman of the Year (2008) and Leadership Charlotte Schley Lyons Award (2014). She currently serves on the boards of Fifth Third’s North Carolina Affiliate, the Ginter Foundation and the Charlotte Chamber. A longtime member of the Charlotte Rotary Club, Carol enjoys hiking in the mountains, relishes the opportunity to travel with friends and family, and is an avid music lover.

Charles Jonas, Foundry Commercial

Charles Jonas serves as senior managing director and Carolinas market leader for Foundry Commercial. In this dual role, he creates selective investment opportunities for his clients and provides an innovative approach to asset leasing while leading the company’s overall growth, driving strategic acquisitions, and recruiting talent. Charles was born and raised in Charlotte and is married with two children enrolled in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools system. He is the chairman of the Trail of History and The May 20th Society, and he was previously on the board of directors for Habitat for Humanity and president of NAIOP Charlotte.

Julie Porter, The Housing Partnership

Julie Porter is president of Charlotte Mecklenburg Housing Partnership, Inc., (CMHP), a broad-based, private, nonprofit housing development and finance corporation. Since joining CMPH in 2013, Porter has overseen the addition of 400+ affordable multi-family apartments to CMHP’s already impressive portfolio of almost 2,000 units. This includes the organization’s first supportive housing community, a 20-unit development geared towards formerly homeless veterans and their families. Porter was also instrumental in winning a hard-fought rezoning for Weddington Road Apartments, a workforce housing community which will eventually serve 70 families and give them access to excellent schools and opportunity for advancement. She also remains committed to comprehensive redevelopment of neighborhoods and has dedicated significant time to completing Brightwalk, an 88-acre master-planned community purposely designed for a mix of incomes. Commercial development efforts along Statesville Avenue and a range of revitalization strategies in partnership with leaders in the North End of Charlotte are also being spearheaded under her leadership.

She has spent much of her professional career improving lives and neighborhoods through working to revitalize urban communities. In 2016, Porter became an alum of the Leadership Development Initiative (LDI), a signature 12-month program of Community Building Initiative.

Rev. Dwayne Walker, Little Rock AME Zion Church

Rev. Dr. Dwayne Anthony Walker was born in Rock Hill, South Carolina. He later moved with his family to Chicago, Illinois, where he received his early education in the Chicago Public Schools. He is a graduate of Livingstone College, Salisbury, North Carolina where he received the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science.

After accepting the call to preach, he enrolled at Wesley Theological Semi¬nary in Washington, D.C. While a student, he served as Assistant Pastor for Youth and Young Adult Ministry at John Wesley A.M.E. Zion Church in Washington, D.C.

He received the Master of Divinity Degree in 1989 and in June that year, he was appointed Pastor of Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church in Detroit, Michigan. In November of 1994, Dr. Walker was appointed to serve as Pastor of Jones Tabernacle A.M.E. Zion Church, Indianapolis, Indiana. In addition to serving as Pastor of Jones Tabernacle, Dr. Walker served as Ad¬ministrator of Kuumba Horizons Child Development Center. He was also a member of the board of Celebration of Hope, member of the board of Volunteers of America and a member of the Advisory Board of United Ne¬gro College Fund. In May 2004, Dr. Walker received the Doctor of Ministry degree from Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, D.C.

In September of 2005, he was appointed as pastor of Little Rock A.M.E. Zion Church, Charlotte, North Carolina. Dr. Walker currently serves as a member of The Board of Trustees of Livingstone College, The Board of Dorothy Walls Conference and Retreat Center, member of The Black Political Caucus, The NAACP, the Chair¬man of the Little Rock Community Development Corporation, a former member of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Planning Commission and Vice Chair of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Community Relations Committee.

Dr. Walker is the son of Retired Bishop and Mrs. George W.C. Walker, Sr. He was married to the late Ge¬neva T. Moore Walker who God welcomed Mrs. Walker home a few years ago. He is the proud father of four beautiful daughters, DeAndra, Dana, Daivene and Deborah. Dr. Walker has one grandson Dylan Amir and one granddaughter, Meliya Geneva.